Come over
by poeticallywendy
Summary: re-worked and reposted - inspired by Kenny Chesney's song "Come Over". It's the anniversary of that particular and peculiar night. Sarah learned that wishes have consequences but climbing the walls is getting her nowhere.


**A/N** My appologies for the panic attack and pulling the story off ff. I have edited the story into one document to correct thespelling and grammar errors that I could find and improve the flow of the story somewhat. Still un betaed so all errors belong to me. I own what I own, all else is borrowed. Please see the disclaimer in my profile.

Summary: songfic inspired by "Come Over" Sarah gives in and calls Jareth.

_"I told you I wouldn't call, I told you I wouldn't care, but baby climbing the walls gets me nowhere. I don't think that I can take this bed getting any colder. Come over." (Come Over by Kenny Chesney)_

**Come Over**

There were exactly forty two tiles on the ceiling, six widthwise by seven lengthwise. Sarah knew this to be a fact as she had counted and recounted the tiles dozens of times; and that was just tonight. She even tried counting the revolutions of the ceiling fan but only succeeded in making herself dizzy. The soothing oblivion of sleep was determined to elude her.

She had tried a relaxing aromatherapy bath, sleepy time tea, and reading a dull book before resorting to counting sheep, ceiling tiles, and fan revolutions. Just as she knew it would, sleep always evaded her best efforts on this particular night. It was the anniversary of a peculiar night she tried very hard not to dwell on. Oh don't misunderstand, she was grateful for the lessons learned, the friendships won, and the sheer magic and adventure of it all now that she and Toby were safely back in their mundane aboveground lives.

_He_ (she refused to think, let alone speak _His_ name or title for fear of calling _Him_ ) had gotten very angry when he had caught his subjects speaking with Sarah. His Majesty had let the young woman know that in no uncertain terms would he tolerate any further treasonous actions from his subjects. If she truly cared about them she would cease and desist, cutting all ties to the underground. She would stop encouraging their treasonous behaviour and let them get on with their duties to the underground and to their sovereign.

Her last exchange with the goblin King had been very heated and not in a pleasant limb tingling way. He had ranted at her and she had stood toe to toe with him. Her defiance fueled his temper. She had lashed back at his cruel jibes. Her mildest accusation had been that he was being petty, her worst, well let's just say this brunette had the legendary temper attributed to redheads and leave it at that.

She had vowed that no matter the cause, no matter how great her need she would not call anyone from the underground. She would not subject anyone to _His Majesty_'s wrath. She would force herself not to care about friends left behind. She would not care about magik and adventure, about possibilities. She would make herself not care about... _Him. _Three hundred and sixty four days of the year she was able to accept that she had cut herself off from the underground. On the three hundred and sixty fifth she understood an addict's inability to fight their craving no matter how dire the consequences. The three hundred and sixty fifth day she walked through a hell of her own devising.

Swallowing back an exasperated sigh, Sarah got out of bed and cocooned herself on the couch in her worn out robe and countless layers of blankets. She switched the TV on in search of something, anything that would distract her from the longing for... Squashing that thought before it could be fully formed she flicked the TV off only to turn it back on again in desperation. "Utter nonsense... ridiculous... I should be able to... wonderful, now _He's_ got me talking to myself" she sputtered. "_He's_ not even here and I can't form a proper sentence! Just wonderful, Fanfreakin'tabulous!" She threw her hands up and promptly wi..., make that she promptly regretted her actions as she lost her layers of blankets and was exposed to the 'way too early in the morning' cold air. Sarah had afterall learned her lesson. After that night, she did not make wishes. Wishes, it seemed, could bring about unwanted consequences. Sarah was far from certain she could handle the consequences a second time.

A need wasn't a wish. "I told _Him_ I wouldn't call but climbing the walls like this is getting me nowhere." Sarah hugged the blankets to herself and spoke without thinking, spoke before she could lose her courage. "Jareth I need you."

The words were naught but a whisper, a breath, a sigh of longing. And yet they had his immediate attention. "Well now pet," he mused, "you can say we're done the way you always do but it would seem it's easier to lie to me than to yourself." Still he made no other movement than to resettle himself on his overly ornate (in his opinion) and somewhat overstuffed, mildly uncomfortable (again in his opinion) throne. Why it had to be this ridiculous piece of furniture rather than some comfortable… he was getting distracted from the matter at hand. After all this time (for her at any rate – immortality does tend to give one a decidedly different sense of the passage of time) was she actually going to say her right words? Was she actually going to dare to… _Wish_? And on this night no less. It was too much to hope for, it was almost too perfect. A slow, somewhat wolfish grin overtook his normally haughty expression. After all he had to follow the KISS rule when dealing with the vast majority of his subjects and, upon careful consideration, his 'clients' as well. It wouldn't do for a wisher to take him lightly after all, and as for the goblins he shuddered to think of the additional havoc they would cause without a firm hand to guide them.

He conjured a scrying crystal to better focus on Sarah. If she was going to wish she deserved his full attention after all. He tamped down his frustration and impatience at his own, self-created impotence. '_But what no one knew was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her certain powers.'_ That little bit of romantic nonsense added to the Creator cursed book had hamstrung him in innumerable ways, not the least of which was her ability to banish him from her presence. He didn't mind that writing the words had made it fact that he was in love with her, it was a novelty to experience such a visceral and celestially divine emotion, no what truly set his teeth on edge was that she didn't even realise she had these powers, not then and not now. He would have staked his claim much sooner otherwise.

"I ...I wish" was this it? Would she finally let go and say the words? Jareth leaned forward, as if this would actually help him hear her better. He was so focused on her that his body reacted of its own accord, behaving as if she were in the room. Realising what he was doing he cursed himself for a fool and straightened up. "I wish the goblin king would come to me right now". His expression turned positively feral as he appeared at Sarah's side between one heart beat and the next.

"What, no mael storm of glitter? No thunder, no flashes of lightning to send me cowering as the house is rattled to its foundations?" The displacement of air at her right side had alerted her that _He_ was coming and she had managed to school her features into a neutral mask. She may have wished him here but damned if she was going to lay all her cards out on the table until she had a feel for how he was going to react to this little transgression.

"Come now Sarah is there really any need to be so snide? Jaded does not suit you at all pet." he tsked all the while drinking in her presence that had been denied him too long. He walked over and settled himself on the big, red, somewhat natty velvet couch that overshadowed the tiny and admittedly spartan living room. Jareth looked pointedly at Sarah and patted the empty space beside him. "You had something particular in mind when you called me to you or is this just an idle visit?"

With a defeated little sigh Sarah gingerly sat next to the being who had walked, among other things, through her dreams for the past seven years. Hah she was a cliché unto herself; she'd called him to scratch her seven year itch as it were. She shivered and tried to maintain some semblance of rationality. Lord knows his proximity after so long was definitely having its effect on her. Her libido was busily flashing images of some of her racier (all right, all right lets call a spade a spade) make that raunchier dreams while her rational brain huffed in disgust at both her recklessness in wishing him here and the continued antics and downright juvenile behaviour of her libido. Her libido meanwhile, was convinced that Sarah had lost her sexual mojo before she even really got a chance to use it thanks to the goblin king and she was bound and determined to reclaim it with aforementioned monarch's help, thank you very much Mr. smexy goblin king. That feral look on his face had not escaped the notice of Sarah's libido who was now busily adding to Sarah's inner turmoil by purring, drooling and all but rubbing up against the object of her lust. The random and not so random thoughts stampeding through her head were making Sarah inarticulate. Never mind the massive self-induced headache she felt brewing. It was going to take more than one Advil to make this one go away.

"I won't bite Sarah",_ at least not too hard, unless you... _Jareth mentally smacked his inner libido. "You can settle yourself more comfortably and we can have a civilised conversation". Sarah attempted to loosen her posture somewhat so that her body language was no longer screaming hostilities. "Yes our last conversation was the epitome of civil after all". She immediately regretted that smart mouthed retort. "My apologies your Majesty. My words called you here I suppose I should make some attempt at respectful behaviour". Grabbing the metaphorical bull by the gonads (the horns would cause her to be tossed about too much, and the gonads were directly related to many of the issues she had with the goblin king) Sarah looked Jareth in the eyes and decided that honesty was indeed the best policy in light of the hungry look in said eyes. "I've thought about you a lot over the years, even dreamt of you" she flushed a delectable shade of pink. "And despite knowing so little about you, despite the antagonism between us, I've missed you. Some days more desperately than others." She paused, tilted her head, finally decided to continue. "Why is that?" The accusation hung between them and Jareth had the good grace to look somewhat sheepish.

Sarah settled herself more comfortably on the couch. Waiting for Jareth's explanation. It was bound to be complex and require her full attention. "Because I love you." Ok she was not expecting that. "It can't be that simple" she scoffed. "You love me? I went through all that... that _adventure_" she spat, making the word sound like the vilest oath. She paused to collect herself. "I went through all that to redress my mistake. I have been distracted by at the least, and, at the worst, suffered excruciatingly from thoughts of you for seven years. I have frittered away my adolescent romantic whimsies on you. All this..." her hands fluttered melodramatically between them. " All this and all you can say is that it is because you love me? I'm well acquainted with the notion of tough love, but mister this takes the cake." Jareth began to grow alarmed as he could see that Sarah was losing herself in her emotions and that any further attempts to explain on his part would make less and less sense to a very distraught Sarah.

"No pleasant exchange of idle chit chat, you quite emphatically quashed any chit or chat that might have occurred! You love me! There has been no courtship, no wooing just this declaration after so much silence. I can't believe your gall. You love me! A girl needs some wooing before hearing words like that..." she paused, took a deep breath. With sudden, jerky movements, Sarah scrambled off the couch and retreated to the far corner of the living room. Perhaps not the best strategy as Jareth was between her and the exit from the small living room, never mind that he was still too close for any degree of comfort. Sarah starred at him, her eyes like saucers, "You LOVE me?" she croaked out in a panic.

This was not going well at all. Jareth pinched the bridge of his nose and suppressed a sigh. "Sarah please come sit down. This is not a conversation we can have with you shaking in a corner trying to decide whether flight is a better option than fight" "Fight!" she growled. "You want a fight? Fine I'll give you a fight." she retorted hotly before stomping back over to the worn out velvet monstrosity she called a couch and gracelessly flumping back down. She wondered how it was that he could affect her so. Onne minute she's cowering from him and the next his words had her seeing red. Truly she was not usually this erratic. He managed to bring out the worst in her.

"Are you done your snit? I can wait and let you finish, I much prefer to have your full attention for this conversation." Jareth said with some asperity. Sarah resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. He did not need another childish display from her. "I'm good now, please continue." she made a small, somewhat impatient little motion, urging him to get on with it allready.

"Yes, I love you; it's that simple and that complex. Human love is a precious gift from the Creator, it is an emotion not often experienced by any celestial creature. I suppose immortality dampens the edge of some of the more volatile emotions. Add in the fact that the book is Djinn created causing every statement in that book to be true, and well there you go."

His expression softened as he lost himself in a memory. "The moment you took on the role of the girl in the story you set in motion the creation of the labyrinth itself. The goblin kingdom has been significantly altered by your belief. _I_ have been profoundly changed by your belief in me." With a shake of his head, Jareth brouht himself back to the present. "The words, be they written or spoken define the celestial reality. It boils down to faith pet. I stayed away for so long because you _believed_ you had banished me from your presence and so you had until you said your right words and called me back to you"

Sarah tried not to gape at him like a fish out of water. What he was saying had a certain logic to it. It truly had been a hell of her own devising, she thought bitterly. "And your anger at my calling Hoggle, Sir Diddymus, and Ludo? All that talk of not tolerating treason?" Her pointed question earned another somewhat sheepish look from Jareth. "I never said that the Djinn were immune to a bruised ego. Oh I understand that you had to choose your responsibility to Toby, and I know you were not ready to accept my love". Jareth continued on past her protests. "It hurt that you didn't choose me and I lashed out. I am sorrier than you can imagine Sarah for not being there for you. You were learning some difficult lessons and I responded by throwing a goblinesque royal tantrum." He paused, studied her closely than added with a wolfish grin. "So a girl needs some wooing on occasion does she?" His studied pretense at innocence was failing utterly so he wrapped his arms around the charming creature at his side.

"That is what you foccus on? In that whole long winded rant, wooing is what got your attention?" Sarah's attempt at giving Jareth her patented stink eye was derailed by the inane fit of giggles threatening to erupt. This was a shame really; Sarah's stink eye was truly a marvel, as Toby could attest to having been on the receiving end of it numerous times. Rolling her eyes, Sarah gave in and cuddled in to Jareth. It wasn't as if she didn't want to curl into him and li..., she quickly pushed that decadent, delicious, and dangerous train of thought aside. She mentally glared at her libido to warn her off any further shenanigans. This night was getting to her. Her nerves were frayed and she was now having conversations with herself. If she kept this up it did not bode well for her sanity. With a whimper she snuggled in as close as possible to Jareth's warmth in order to shut out the unwanted thoughts. She was surprised to note the barest sigh of contentment from the goblin king.

Gathering his thoughts, Jareth rested his chin on the top of Sarah's head. This was a cozy little interlude, however this little talk was nowhere near over. The problem was that he wasn't sure exactly were the conversation was headed from here. How to explain the magik involved in their relationship? While his declaration of love was sincere it was very dry and matter of fact. It was not something to warm a young woman's heart. Romantic gestures, heated, whispered words of longing, smoldering glances; these were things to woo her heart. His Sarah wanted to be wooed, and woo her he would. He'd make her life woo-derful. He was getting carried away here. His point, albeit currently only to himself, was that if she would let him, he would do everything in his power to make her happy. Before he could say anymore Sarah squirmed in his embrace until she was facing him. "I imagine this… this... this whatever this is, isn't finished" she made a vague little gesture indicating the two of them, "but I'm not ready for it am I?" Jareth acknowledged that now was not the time to press his suit much further. "I'm not sure _I'm_ entirely ready for it" he admitted with a pained expression.

"Thought as much" Sarah murmured. "Well in that case since you are being so straight forward with me, perhaps it's time I was forward with you." Jareth quirked an eyebrow and smirked at her. Damn that smexy smirk of his! Sarah leaned in and ghosted her lips over his.

Jareth's morning was suddenly full of promise. Sarah gently kissed a trail from his lips, along his jaw line to the sensitive spot just behind his ear. He promptly stopped thinking and let himself get lost in the feel of her lips. Lost in the tentative explorations of her fingertips on his biceps. Lost in HER.

-FIN-


End file.
